Thursday, October 28, 2010

(Southampton, Mass.) We drove up to Crooked Ledge rd. to explore an old unmarked road. It's always mid-afternoon when I end up at these places. Who knows what the best light is? Who cares?

Stone walls and foundations. "Look here," I say. "That rock under there? Who knows when the last time it was touched by a human being? 300 years ago? Amazing, right?"

But I only pretend to say it. I keep it to myself and just sigh.

Whispered, I hear, "I think Rob is looking tired, and was he mumbling about being an iceman and how icemen could make a comeback, and you have to capture the opportunity or something. Being an iceman? Do you think Rob looks tired?"

Leave him alone, he's fine, I hear countered. Complemented with a sharp burp.

Brush with fame is the game. Go: Ed Ansner is named. "He was rude at an event I coordinated but later found out he was just bored and messing with me because I was new." Lots of snappy responses, including: appropriate ways of dealing with the Ted Knight laugh, Mary, Betty White. Lots of laughing. Good times.

"Nice cold storage. Drag ice here from the pond. Or put it up on your wagon. Either way you could get it here. If I had a block of ice here in July or August? I could get some syrup and make a fortune..."

I turn and realize I'm talking to myself.

A walk up an old unmarked road wouldn't be complete without an old car. Not sure of the make of this but I'd guess the late 60s or early 70s. First car I drove was a '72 Cadillac.

Has a UMass parking sticker on the bumper. Maybe Tommy Devine rode in the back seat at some point? Hubba hubba!

Turns out this was Edwards Rd., which lead into a residential neighborhood.

Trail description:

Rocky and can develop into a small stream after a decent rainstorm. 90 mins up and back to car. No dramatic incline. A zip line was discovered (below).

Off The Shelf: The Finest Hours by Michael J. Tougias and Casey Sherman

From Booklist: In a 1952 nor’easter, the distress of two ships off Cape Cod initiated a dramatic Coast Guard operation recounted here by coauthors Tougias and Sherman. Both vessels were World War II surplus, cheaply built, unwisely kept in service, and broken in two by the storm. All four halves floated, for the moment, and the authors’ narrative accordingly tracks four separate search-and-rescue efforts that form the complete story. The most prominent, in the press at the time and in official honors conferred afterward, concerned one motorized lifeboat, a puny 36 feet long and manned by four men, dispatched to do battle with the maelstrom’s towering waves. This is the seascape of The Perfect Storm, and the authors do justice to the peril in a tight account of the action. Plotting the course of CG36500, the utilitarian name of the lifeboat captained by Bernie Webber (interviewed for this book), Tougias and Sherman reach their peak of tension in the sink-or-swim moments when mariners abandoned ship and chanced their lives on their rescuers’ skill and bravery. An excellent entry in the disaster-at-sea genre. --Gilbert Taylor

A collision of memories, time and space

Our focus is on Western Massachusetts. Our postings are mostly of common images that folks might come across in their everyday journeys. Wall graffiti, lampposts, ticket booths, street scenes, wildlife, forests and discarded objects are regular themes.
We started blogging with a focus on the history of our families and how the places they have lived evolved over time. We are most interested in how the past and present collide and launching the reader into a place where memories of prior experiences and places mingle with their everyday lives.
-- Bob Genest